Illinois reaches settlement in lawsuit over mentally ill

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (and other media)Â on March 15, 2010 printed an Associated Press article saying, “Illinois must help thousands of residents move out of large mental institutions and provide them support services as part of a settlement expected to be filed today in a class-action lawsuit. The agreement, hailed as a landmark by advocates for the mentally ill, gives the state five years to help residents make the transition to apartments and small homes, a process to be overseen by a court-appointed monitor. … The lawsuit, filed in 2005 by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups, claims Illinois violates the civil rights of 4,500 mentally ill people living in ‘institutions for mental disease…'”

The settlement affects people living in “institutions for mental disease” who could live in the community with services to help them manage their lives.